Harassment by Police on Rohingyas Increases in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State (Rohingya Vision) — Myanmar’s Police has started to increasingly harass the local Rohingyas in Maungdaw Township, according to the local sources.

The police in Maungdaw frequently stop them, search their bodies for reasons, rob their belongings and extort money from them.

“Some police personnel from Maungdaw Police station always wait at a Rakhine residence — at the mouth of the street to ‘Boh Hmuu’ village opposite to ‘the Training Centre for Women Domestic Skill’ in Quarter 4 – for the Rohingya people coming from the rural areas to the downtown of Maungdaw.

The stop them and search their bodies for no reasons. They beat them, rob their money and belongings. It’s happening almost every day,” said an eyewitness in Maungdaw.

It has been learnt that, on August 22, the Maungdaw Police arrested Mr. Abul Hashim, hails from ‘Maadilla’ hamlet of Baggona village tract, from Maungdaw Municipal market on the allegation of inciting the violence in 2012. Later, the police released him having extorted Kyat 50,000 from him.

Similarly, on 25th August, while Mr. Mohamed Johar Abul Kasim, hails from ‘Nwa Ron Taung’ village in northern Maungdaw, was on his way to the downtown of Maungdaw, the police at the check-post of the ‘Myoma Kayintan-Myo Thu Gyi’ bridge stopped him. Upon searching his body, the police found out a gold chain he was brining from home to sell at the downtown.

The police extorted Kyat 20,000 from him saying “you, *Kulars, don’t have the rights to carry around Gold.”

*Kular= a derogatory term used against the people of Indian descends in Myanmar. Currently, it has been notoriously to target the Muslim population of the country.